dwightwalters's recent activity
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Comment on The MacBook keyboard fiasco is way worse than Apple thinks in ~tech
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Comment on Researching a book before you read it? in ~books
dwightwalters LinkFirst, I absolutely love The Constant Gardener and nearly every word Le Carre ever wrote. He was such a worthy successor to the Graham Greene tradition. To answer your question, I generally don't...First, I absolutely love The Constant Gardener and nearly every word Le Carre ever wrote. He was such a worthy successor to the Graham Greene tradition.
To answer your question, I generally don't prepare my reading with research. If, in the course of reading, I find a fact that leads me down a rabbit hole, then so be it. I'm a novelist myself and very often I use novels to point me toward primary research for my own stories. They're generally well-organized to allow for subject-specific focus. Actually, one of the reasons I'm a writer is that it's how I engage with the world around me, kicking around issues and ideas on the page and discovering how I truly feel about an issue by arguing out the various positions.
Certain fascinating tidbits I've read have set me off on tangents that become projects of 3+ years. I'm sure I'm not the only one who works this way. What other passion projects have people created based on novels they've read?
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Comment on Posting original links (own content) in ~tildes
dwightwalters LinkSo I'm curious about this as well. I self-publish my own novels and narrate audiobooks for other authors. I'd love to share the work I do, especially when it's relevant to existing conversations...So I'm curious about this as well. I self-publish my own novels and narrate audiobooks for other authors. I'd love to share the work I do, especially when it's relevant to existing conversations in posts and threads. But on other sites this gets frowned at as self-promotion while the same bestsellers are recommended and shared a million times.
I'd really like a forum where independent creators of all stripes can share their work without being accused of polluting the discourse with self-promotion. I'm hoping tildes allows a way to do this. We're just struggling artists. We're not shills or marketing hustlers (although I do understand that very often those hustlers show up and spam threads and ruin it all for the rest of us). But there must be a way...
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Comment on How do you summon the muse? in ~creative
dwightwalters LinkI'm an actor and a writer. When writing a new novel or stage play I need a few days of near-solitude to drop deep enough inside to find my voice. It can't happen in the normal busyness of the...I'm an actor and a writer. When writing a new novel or stage play I need a few days of near-solitude to drop deep enough inside to find my voice. It can't happen in the normal busyness of the daily world. Usually I'll go on a solo hiking trip, walk all day, sleep under the stars, get properly exhausted.
As an actor it's the opposite. The muse descends in the cauldron of rehearsal. It's a full-contact sport. Or if it's improv or screen acting with little to no rehearsal then it's fearlessness, it's jumping out of a plane without a parachute with no thought of the consequences.
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Comment on Are certain message boards like Tildes, Reddit etc. social engineering? in ~tech
dwightwalters LinkI read this story in Wired yesterday, which describes in detail the efforts of an Italian techno-utopian who started at Olivetti and evolved into a web consultant and social media mastermind. He...I read this story in Wired yesterday, which describes in detail the efforts of an Italian techno-utopian who started at Olivetti and evolved into a web consultant and social media mastermind. He was behind the rise of the political movement which now rules Italy, in tandem with Nationalist allies. Whatever ideas we've all had about this subject as a powerful force for change or group control have already long been implemented at the international scale.
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Comment on Stone posted a picture of the Federal judge on his case with crosshairs in ~news
dwightwalters Link ParentYeah this is a guy who has been peddling disinformation since Nixon and knows exactly what he's doing. He's waiting for Judge Jackson to fully gag him so then he can portray himself as even more...Yeah this is a guy who has been peddling disinformation since Nixon and knows exactly what he's doing. He's waiting for Judge Jackson to fully gag him so then he can portray himself as even more crucified.
The idea that he went on google images is definitely naive, if not disingenuous.
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Comment on Do you exercise at home and/or in gym? What's your goal? Favorite exercise? in ~health
dwightwalters LinkI'm 49 and if I don't maintain a certain level of fitness my joints hardly work anymore. I'm a hiker who likes being able to sleep on the ground and if I don't have enough muscle tone for my ribs...I'm 49 and if I don't maintain a certain level of fitness my joints hardly work anymore. I'm a hiker who likes being able to sleep on the ground and if I don't have enough muscle tone for my ribs and shoulders and hips and knees then I can't do that.
My favorite exercise is swimming. I wouldn't go to a gym at all if it wasn't for access to a pool. I really love lake or river swimming and as soon as I find somewhere in the world I can swim safely and comfortably outdoors year round I will know where I'm going to retire.
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Comment on Write a quick poem! in ~creative
dwightwalters LinkYou plastically came to me Once and then twice I didn't care to know you But you have angles Angles that prove mathematical precepts I didn't want to know you But the teacher told me I must show...You plastically came to me
Once and then twice
I didn't care to know you
But you have angles
Angles that prove mathematical precepts
I didn't want to know you
But the teacher told me
I must show my work -
Comment on It started as a fairly routine tweet from an inoffensive source - Canada's foreign affairs ministry. But in just a few days it escalated into a world-class diplomatic clash. in ~misc
dwightwalters Link ParentWe have already forgotten how important Facebook and Twitter were to the upheavals of the Arab Spring. Their importance can also be overstated, since many of the original grievances weren't about...We have already forgotten how important Facebook and Twitter were to the upheavals of the Arab Spring. Their importance can also be overstated, since many of the original grievances weren't about technology or youthful aspirations, but often about food distribution during droughts (Syria) and political representation in many other countries. But social media platforms were such crucial mechanisms to deliver democracy, however short lived, to the streets of the Middle East.
It was this effectiveness that drew the attention of Russia and China and a rogue's gallery of non-state actors to their potential. In the classic we-can't-have-nice-things dialectic, our social media has quickly and inevitably been turned against us.
As a historical parenthetical... I'd like to argue that the Arab Spring, like the Pan Arab movement of the 20th century, is not yet over. We've been too quick to dismiss it as a failed experiment ending in suffering and death for a generation across the Muslim world. But Pan-Arabism lasted fifty years. It is a slow process.
tl;dr--Twitter ain't all bad.
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Comment on Google tracks your movements, like it or not in ~tech
dwightwalters LinkNearly every time I open my safari phone browser and go to google.com it asks if I will allow give google access to my location. I figure either some glitch is preventing them from tracking me or...Nearly every time I open my safari phone browser and go to google.com it asks if I will allow give google access to my location. I figure either some glitch is preventing them from tracking me or I'm conversely some super tracker like patient zero that they really want to keep tabs on.
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Comment on Antifa clashes with police and journalists in Charlottesville and DC in ~news
dwightwalters LinkIt needs to be mentioned in any discussion about the left-wing response to the alt right movement that classic techniques of discrediting the movements and manipulating their reputations are...It needs to be mentioned in any discussion about the left-wing response to the alt right movement that classic techniques of discrediting the movements and manipulating their reputations are widespread. We can’t document it, though—how many agitators are wearing masks and starting the violence themselves. But laying all these crimes, unexamined, at the feet of Antifa is what the authorities want us to do.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~talk
dwightwalters LinkAs a native Californian my life experience has been welcoming people here and teaching them about our famous laid-back attitude. My favorite example is my friend who had his own Institute at...As a native Californian my life experience has been welcoming people here and teaching them about our famous laid-back attitude. My favorite example is my friend who had his own Institute at Stanford. He was originally from the Balkans and is the most intense, combative, confrontational person I’ve ever met.
He made me his inspiration to change. I would take him on hikes and we would go out dancing and he would be shocked by my general lack of ambition. Now he is in Hawaii running a program there. His quest to learn peace and meaning drives him west, farther and farther each time.
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Comment on Anyone into whisky/ey? in ~hobbies
dwightwalters LinkI'm turning 50 next year and my hope had been to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. But with a daughter in high school I realized I should wait a few more years before I'm gone...I'm turning 50 next year and my hope had been to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. But with a daughter in high school I realized I should wait a few more years before I'm gone from her for 5 months.
So instead I've been looking at hiking across certain smaller countries. Lebanon has an amazing 275 mile north-south trail in the mountains. South Korea and Portugal and Greece all look good.
But the current frontrunner is Ireland. I haven't been in 25 years and they have recently connected four distance paths across the heart of the south, from Dublin to Dingle. I visualize stumbling from brewery to distillery to pub and remembering precious little of the adventure. About five weeks, I figure.
So, yes. I like whiskey.
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Comment on Disney Outlines Streaming Service, Will Launch in Late 2019 in ~news
dwightwalters Link ParentI had a similar response to the common refrain that if we want good journalism we have to pay for it. I do. I subscribe to several newspapers, websites, blogs, and video sources that all add up to...I had a similar response to the common refrain that if we want good journalism we have to pay for it. I do. I subscribe to several newspapers, websites, blogs, and video sources that all add up to nearly $100/month. But I don't have subscriptions to the WSJ or WaPo or NYTimes or LATimes and their content is all walled now.
What, you actually expect average citizens to spend in excess of $200/month to stay informed? And then add several hundred dollars more in entertainment subscriptions like the ones you mention on top of cable and internet fees that are in excess of $100 themselves?
I suppose it's the knowledge economy we always heard about. But it is too expensive to remain tenable.
I've been hoping for the ONE service for decades but I'm not sure we're going to get it. The most we might be able to hope for is some clever aggregation of like-minded services. Let's say my budget is $100/month. For that I'd like a package of major news tv and print networks such as NBC/FS1/CSPAN/Local TV/NYTimes/Netflix/ and a broad selection of smaller sites and sources.
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Comment on Why Nord Stream 2 is the world’s most controversial energy project in ~enviro
dwightwalters Link ParentThanks for the link. I'm not sure contempt is the right word. Perhaps alarm. Russia has silently declared war on the West and their energy exports to Central and Western Europe are integral...Thanks for the link. I'm not sure contempt is the right word. Perhaps alarm. Russia has silently declared war on the West and their energy exports to Central and Western Europe are integral weapons in their arsenal. The link you provided talks about how Nord Stream 2 will allow the Russians to bypass the Ukrainians and punish them. The purpose of the new pipeline is to maximize profits, launder dirty money, extend corruption, allow new avenues of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, and extend their control over the energy needs of continental Europe. Renewable energy can't come fast enough.
I suppose ultimately this is a litmus test of how much power Western democracy supporting actors still possess. The alarm bells are ringing. The security community certainly knows what's happening. But who else? One would think that a global media addicted to sensational storylines would be more interested in a clandestine international war, but so far they appear generally complicit as well.
And that's how I ended up on an open-source non-profit site like this.
I know it won't work for everyone, but the programs I use will work fine on an iPad Pro. When my 2013 mb gives up the ghost I'll just get a souped-up tablet and start poking the screen like a caveman.